Free LC 02 - Questionable Remains by Beverly Connor Page A

ask me to go back where I came from, it would
be to the foothills of the Appalachians. That's where I was
born and raised. There's no place else for me to go. By my
thinking, I am as much native to this land as you are. That
doesn't mean, however, that I believe that the government
shouldn't honor past treaties or that we should completely
disregard your feelings about your ancestors. It simply
means that all that happened here is part of my history, too."
    "I understand that. I even respect it. But what if we were
digging up your ancestors?"
    "I am absolutely the wrong person to ask that. If I knew
nothing about them, I'd be the first in with a shovel and
trowel."
    Emily smiled. "We see things very differently."
    "On most things, I suppose," said Lindsay. "Your differences with Royce. Was that about tribal land?"
    "Yes. We've had a suit in for years. We finally settled with
the government last week, and Royce's father lost his land
to us in the settlement. He was paid, of course, but ..."
    "His family had a history with that land, too," finished
Lindsay.
    "Yes. Back several generations. We weren't happy to take
land away from him, but it was our land before it was his.
And, oddly enough, as Walter's father likes to say, a contract is a contract."
    "You knew Walter Royce before this?" asked Lindsay.
    Emily gazed off for a moment before she answered. "We
used to go out."

    "I see. For you, then, the price of the settlement was very
high," said Lindsay.
    "Yes. It was. But the good of the tribe is more important
than my happiness."
    "Your and Walter's history together-is that why he
relented about you being on his land?"
    "Yes."
    "It looks like he might be willing to forgive one day,"
commented Lindsay as she went back to work on the bones
of a squirrel comingled with those of a rabbit. Emily
watched her work. Lindsay gently dug around the bones
with a wooden Popsicle stick, brushing the loose dirt away
with the kind of paintbrush used for edge work and windows. With each stroke of the brush, the bones stood out in
greater relief.
    "He might," said Emily after a moment, "but his father
would forbid it, and he would honor his father."
    "The good of his family is more important than his happiness. Perhaps our worldview is not so different from
yours after all."
    "In some things, I suppose not."
    Emily rose from her haunches. "It was good talking with
you, Lindsay Chamberlain. Perhaps we can talk more at
lunch. Now I have to go observe Gerri, who seems to want
to be my best friend."
    Lindsay grinned to herself as Emily walked across the
site.
    Lunch came too soon for Lindsay. She was not finished
with her animal pit. Nevertheless, she rose and went to eat
the sandwich she had prepared that morning from the camp
supplies. Emily and Sally sat beside her. Brian and Gerri
were still on the site talking about something, and Sally kept
looking over at them.
    "The people on the news say that you are hiding out,"
said Emily.
    Lindsay stopped mid-bite. "What?"

    "They can't find you. They said your credentials are
being looked into, that they are suspect-something about
flunking a course and never making it up." Both Sally and
Lindsay looked at Emily with gaping mouths. "You didn't
know this?" Emily asked.
    Lindsay shook her head. "I'm on vacation. Damn, this is
getting ridiculous. I've never flunked a course in my life."
    "I'll say," said Sally. "Lindsay's credentials are the best."
    "This has gone beyond just being a sore loser, this is-this
is something I'm going to take care of right now." Lindsay
rose and went to her vehicle.
    She first called home and caught Susan at the cabin eating lunch. "Lindsay, I'm glad you called," she said. "The
reporters' questions are getting more serious. They are asking something about where you went to school and something about not really graduating and failing a course."
    Lindsay was shocked. She realized that she was tapping
her foot on the brake pedal and